Xbox One vs PS4

[henners88]

Aw, I feel sorry for you henners. But I'm sure you find enjoyment in doing other things.

Anyway, I'm lucky in a way because my wife is a gamer too, and we even spend hours playing co-op games together, recently Portal 2. So, if anything, I get encouraged or asked to do more gaming. Fine by me!

You are lucky. I get stick but its not all done seriously. I think all the games I have had over the past 3 years (5 games) have been bought by my wife. I think I get stick as a tease more than anything but it does wind me up especially when I turn the console on and play for 30 mins, only to be told to get off it and get a life lol. The truth is I just don't get enough time to chill out in front of the TV or play games. I grab the odd half hour or early Saturday morning here and there. My wife used to very occasionally go on Call of Duty years ago but her interest has faded since. The only thing she'll go on now is Singstar and we often do that when friends are over. Plus gaming can be a bit of a passion killer in the evenings if you're not in the same room and enjoying the same hobby.

[Koz]

I don't remember either PS3 or X360 adverts claiming 1080p. IIRC they claimed 720p from the start. I think both PS4 and Xbone should be able to handle initial games at 1080p least, with both of them going into the teraflops region compared to the gigaflops of their predecessors. Of course, in the coming years upcoming games will be optimized so that their hardware continues to be able to 'handle' them.

They claimed 1080p capable, just like the modern ones are 4k capable. Both are marketing tricks.

The AMD processor on both of them is a wimpy 8 core one, yes, but I think it is slightly better than a Sandy Bridge Core i3. I maybe wrong, but it is more comparable to a Core i7 from the same architecture. Also, they seem to have offloadeded most of the task on the GPU this time and opted to make it more powerful, and so don't need the processor to be that spectacular. Games will be developed accordingly.

Not true. AMD being 8 cores is irrelevant. Current dual core i3 will beat almost every 8-10 core chips from AMD. The only time when AMD chips can compete with i7 is when the i7 is ultra-low voltage - and/or 3 generations old.

Offloading to GPU, is different. GPUs are terrible at calculating floating points. They are very good at doing a lot of simple calculations in parallel. They exist for different tasks, and this will be a bottleneck.

I think it's no secret that at the price tag of $400, you will not be getting a PC beater in any way, shape or form, even if console fans would like to believe so. And like I said earlier, people have already built far superior monster gaming PCs than these "next-gen" consoles six months before they even release.

For 400? Using two year old parts, you could get pretty close.

The problem is that it isn't 6 months, the problem is that it is already lagging behind about two years.

[CaptainRaiden]

They claimed 1080p capable, just like the modern ones are 4k capable. Both are marketing tricks.

My memory is a little hazy from 2006, but I faintly recall a Sony PS3 billboard saying 720p. But then again, I might be mistaken.

Not true. AMD being 8 cores is irrelevant. Current dual core i3 will beat almost every 8-10 core chips from AMD. The only time when AMD chips can compete with i7 is when the i7 is ultra-low voltage - and/or 3 generations old.

Offloading to GPU, is different. GPUs are terrible at calculating floating points. They are very good at doing a lot of simple calculations in parallel. They exist for different tasks, and this will be a bottleneck.

I agree about the processor, that's why I called it wimpy. No freaking way that AMD is competing with any of the last gen Intel Core i processors.

As for offloading to GPU, I think companies like Sony and Microsoft would have done enough testing on their consoles to rule out the possibility of any bottlenecking? The architecture was relayed to game developers beforehand and they're developing games accordingly. Anyway, even on PC recent games have been more GPU heavy than CPU. Only exception being GTA IV which is a CPU vampire.

For 400? Using two year old parts, you could get pretty close.

I meant for $400, no console will beat any potent gaming PC.

[Daniel]

It's interesting how the forum seems to have decided that the PS4 is in pole position for the next battle of the consoles. After Microsoft's u-turn on pre-owned games, most articles I've seen seem to be talking about the XBox One being top dog.

The thing all console gamers seem to forget is that pretty much everyone has a PC, for the price of a console, you could turn an everyday PC into a gaming powerhouse, for even less if you built it as a gaming PC from the start. Yeah you might want a bigger monitor, but once you get that bigger monitor you'll appreciate how great it is to use it for everyday usage. I've got a 1920*1200 24" LCD monitor and it's fantastic for everyday use and also great for games, it's a higher res than any of the TV's you guys have got (I doubt anyone has a 4k set just now....) and cost me £200 a few years ago.

[Koz]

The thing all console gamers seem to forget is that pretty much everyone has a PC, for the price of a console, you could turn an everyday PC into a gaming powerhouse, for even less if you built it as a gaming PC from the start.

How many people do you know that have bought a desktop in the last 4 years? (Or even actively use one?)

Among my friends, I know maybe 5-6 people who have a desktop, and they are all gamers or coders. Or are have had machines for close to a decade and think gaming means Hearts or Solitaire.

[henners88]

It's interesting how the forum seems to have decided that the PS4 is in pole position for the next battle of the consoles. After Microsoft's u-turn on pre-owned games, most articles I've seen seem to be talking about the XBox One being top dog.

The thing all console gamers seem to forget is that pretty much everyone has a PC, for the price of a console, you could turn an everyday PC into a gaming powerhouse, for even less if you built it as a gaming PC from the start. Yeah you might want a bigger monitor, but once you get that bigger monitor you'll appreciate how great it is to use it for everyday usage. I've got a 1920*1200 24" LCD monitor and it's fantastic for everyday use and also great for games, it's a higher res than any of the TV's you guys have got (I doubt anyone has a 4k set just now....) and cost me £200 a few years ago.

Different tastes and views Daniel. I prefer the PS4 on first glance and as I had a PS3, I will buy the next generation as I'm familiar with the interface and controller etc. For me its not about picking sides really, as I'll probably buy the PS4 and not think about the xBox, just like I didn't with the 360.

The gaming PC argument doesn't really work for me as I stated before. I don't want a gaming PC. My reasons are mainly because I don't want to dedicate space in my house for a desktop PC when I can tuck my laptop away in a cupboard neatly. My house is very minimalist with most of our junk hidden. I don't like bookshelves or hideous DVD collections on display, and have put a lot of thought into how my house looks. That is probably quite sad to some people lol, but I enjoy design and like to show that in my living space. Just bought a brand new build house so in the process of getting that sorted whilst living with the in-laws

I used own a desktop and used it for gaming but preferred the options consoles offered in terms of available games and I couldn't be bothered to try and keep up with the hardware. I know people here say you can build a PC that will game for years on its present spec, but I can also buy a console that will sit under my TV and play the games I want to which suits my own personal needs. Its not for everyone and I wouldn't try and convert a PC gamer to switch to consoles because it makes no difference to me what they do. I don't game regularly enough these days anyway. I bought 'Grid 2' a couple of weeks ago and finally put the disk in my Playstation yesterday after a day of decorating. I played it for all of 40 minutes and I'll most likely not play it again for a couple of weeks. I don't have the time these days sadly. I'm also told by friends that when your first child comes along, gaming will very much be a thing of the past in any case. I'll grab the odd five minutes and make the most of it while I can

[Daniel]

Different tastes and views Daniel. I prefer the PS4 on first glance and as I had a PS3, I will buy the next generation as I'm familiar with the interface and controller etc. For me its not about picking sides really, as I'll probably buy the PS4 and not think about the xBox, just like I didn't with the 360.

The gaming PC argument doesn't really work for me as I stated before. I don't want a gaming PC. My reasons are mainly because I don't want to dedicate space in my house for a desktop PC when I can tuck my laptop away in a cupboard neatly. My house is very minimalist with most of our junk hidden. I don't like bookshelves or hideous DVD collections on display, and have put a lot of thought into how my house looks. That is probably quite sad to some people lol, but I enjoy design and like to show that in my living space. Just bought a brand new build house so in the process of getting that sorted whilst living with the in-laws

I used own a desktop and used it for gaming but preferred the options consoles offered in terms of available games and I couldn't be bothered to try and keep up with the hardware. I know people here say you can build a PC that will game for years on its present spec, but I can also buy a console that will sit under my TV and play the games I want to which suits my own personal needs. Its not for everyone and I wouldn't try and convert a PC gamer to switch to consoles because it makes no difference to me what they do. I don't game regularly enough these days anyway. I bought 'Grid 2' a couple of weeks ago and finally put the disk in my Playstation yesterday after a day of decorating. I played it for all of 40 minutes and I'll most likely not play it again for a couple of weeks. I don't have the time these days sadly. I'm also told by friends that when your first child comes along, gaming will very much be a thing of the past in any case. I'll grab the odd five minutes and make the most of it while I can

I actually agree with all of that Henners, my point was simply that the age old argument that a gaming PC is expensive is somewhat of a lie. Gone are the days when you needed to have anything near a top spec PC to play games. You also never needed to upgrade every year or 6 months. I think there's a perceived complexity with a PC, 6 years ago I taught a work colleague how to build a PC, he invited me over to build his PC and ordered some Domino's. I simply told him how to do it and still took a meat feast in payment. He was quite surprised how easy it was and since then upgraded that original PC and then built himself a new one a year or two ago.

Obviously if you feel that a PC clutters up your house then that's somewhat of a deal breaker!

You can get some fairly minimalist cases though I've got myself a nice looking Samsung monitor on my desk and the case below which keeps my PC nice and quiet. Not sure if you'd approve of the rest of the **** on my desk though

[Mark]

PC gaming is the best thing for the likes of yourself who knows what they are looking at and can spec accordingly.

But most people just want a box under the tele and to be able to buy games for years to come and know they'll work just as well.

[henners88]

Yeah Mark sums it up for me in a brief sentence lol. I appreciate you can get small PC's these days but I prefer an even smaller laptop for surfing the net and editing photographs. My work give me a decent laptop to run SolidWorks too and I bring that home when I need to do extra CAD work.

We use these: Work Station Specialists Laptop Solidworks

I dare say it would run many games as it has a mean graphics card but I don't need it for that type of thing. I sold a desk a few years back that used to have my PC on, and don't want another one. Its good to know PC gaming is still alive and well as its easy to assume consoles are the only form. I just prefer a games unit I can hide away until I need it.

[henners88]

Google and Apple fancying a piece of the console pie?

"Game" Consoles Are the Final Key to Digital Domination | Gizmodo UK

I can't see either being successful with the size of the fanbase for both the xBox and PS4, but never say never. For me though its a bit like the mobile and tablet market where established competitors are hard to break, or at least take a lot of time to bridge the gap. We'll see.